1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to spinning style fishing reels with pivotable bails and, more particularly, to structure for maintaining the bail selectively in each of its "cast" and "retrieve" positions and for providing useful forces throughout the bail range of motion to facilitate movement of the bail between its cast and retrieve positions.
2. Background
A typical spinning style fishing reel has a main casing which carries a rotor housing that is rotatable through the operation of a crank handle. The rotor housing has an associated bail assembly consisting of a U-shaped wire bail with arms at its free ends. The bail arms and bail are rotatable relative to the rotor housing about an axis between a cast position, wherein line can be freely paid out of a line-carrying spool, and a retrieve position, wherein line is drawn by the bail assembly over the spool as the rotor housing is operated. The spool reciprocates in a fore and aft direction concurrently with rotation of the rotor housing and associated bail assembly so that retrieved line is evenly distributed on the spool.
An overcenter spring arrangement is commonly used to drive the bail and bail arms into each of the cast and retrieve positions. Two different spring arrangements impart a rotative force to the bail arm. In one, a coil spring is arranged with its axis parallel to the rotational axis of the bail arm and loaded between the bail arm and rotor housing by twisting the spring about its axis. In the other, the spring is compressed lengthwise between the bail arm and rotor housing and lies transversely to the rotational axis of the rotor arm.
The above conventional structures have the principal drawback that the springs tend to fatigue and frequently break in normal operation, thereby making the bail inoperable. Also, after prolonged use, the springs tend to lose memory, which may result in the spring force being inadequate to positively drive the bail arm into the cast and retrieve positions. Further, the assembly process is complicated by having to install the spring during assembly, which is a fairly delicate operation. Still further, when the reel is disassembled, one faces the possibility of losing the spring or another of the numerous, separable parts associated with the conventional overcenter biasing structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,106 discloses an improvement in a bail operating mechanism specifically directed to overcoming the above enumerated problems. A first magnet with one particular polarity on one facing surface is provided on either the bail arm or on the rotor housing and second and third magnetic poles of a polarity the same as each other but which polarity is opposite the polarity of the first magnet are provided on the other of the bail arm or rotor housing. The first magnet with one particular polarity and the second and third magnetic poles of opposite polarity are spaced from the rotational axis of the bail arm and are so located that the first magnet of one polarity aligns next to and attracts the second magnetic pole of opposite polarity in the cast position and aligns next to and attracts the third magnetic pole of opposite polarity in the retrieve position. As the bail arm approaches each of the cast and retrieve positions, the second and third magnetic poles are attracted with a progressively increasing force due to the magnetic fields until the maximum attraction occurs with the first magnet with one polarity and the second and third magnetic poles with opposite polarity in proximate, facing relationship, corresponding to the cast and retrieve positions.
One limitation of the prior design is that it may be difficult for conventional bail closing mechanisms operated by the crank handle, typically a kick lever, to overcome the magnetic attraction and drive the bail from its fully open cast position to the point where the bail will trip to its fully closed retrieve position. Most bail closing mechanisms only drive the bail 40-60 degrees to a point at which a spring pushes the bail to its fully closed position. In many instances this may not be far enough to overcome the attractive forces present between substantially axially aligned magnets of opposite polarity.
A further limitation with the prior design is that the magnetic mechanism may tend to bind when the two magnetic poles of opposite polarity are axially aligned in close proximity at the cast and retrieve positions. At these positions the attractive forces between the magnets are greatest. The prior mechanism serves well to hold the bail in the fully open or filly closed position, but does not sufficiently distribute torque forces where most needed to facilitate the tripping of the bail from one position to the other.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved magnetic bail that maintains the bail selectively in each of its "cast" and "retrieve" positions without undue strength and provides useful forces throughout the bail range to best enable the easy transition of the bail between the cast and retrieve positions.